The Winter Wanderer

Little Psychopath

(POV: Matt, 2017)

Matskim found Matt sitting in front of a campfire, covering himself with what appeared to be a bear hide like a blanket. As he stepped inside the cave, he immediately greeted him:

“I heard about a stupid kid who committed suicide because he didn’t go with the refugee caravan…”

Matt was surprised to see a man talking to him out of nowhere, as if they had known each other their whole lives. He had seen him enter wearing nothing but a traditional coat. He was a middle-aged man with brown hair, brown eyes, and a face slightly reddened by the freezing wind. However, the most striking thing wasn’t his appearance, no… What was truly surprising was that he carried only a small backpack with some water and a flask of liquor, along with a short sword sheathed at his side.

“Who are you, and what do you want? Are you from the Empire?” Matt asked, instantly becoming alert.

Even though he was exhausted and shivering from the cold, he prepared himself to fight. He knew perfectly well that this man was superior to him in every way, and he suspected that he was a “Master.” He could sense it simply by feeling the pressure of his aura. Even so, he wasn’t willing to go down easily. Even if it took every ounce of his strength and ended with his death, he would make sure to take at least one of the bastard’s eyes or a limb with him.

“Wow! You really surprised me,” Matskim replied, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. “Do you really think an old man like me would be an imperialist? Don’t you know they always wear uniforms? No, I’m a former soldier who heard about you from the survivors of Anadyr.”

“I see… So you’re a soldier from the air base. At least they made it there safely,” Matt said, relaxing his stance slightly.

The man walked closer, sat down on a rock in front of him, and stared at him.

“Look at you. Here in a cave, with a fire, eating bear meat, and using nothing less than the hide of an animal that was at least two years old as a blanket…”

Matt looked at the hide covering him and confessed without the slightest change in expression:

“Well, even though it was difficult to kill it, I simply ambushed it and attacked from behind. Well… at least that was the plan. I spent two weeks observing its habits, but when I attacked, nothing went as expected. I almost died about seven times during that fight, but in the end, the one that died was the bear.”

Matskim burst into a thunderous laugh that echoed off the stone walls.

“I didn’t expect you to be such a talker. But yeah, considering that, I’m not surprised you’re already an ‘Awakened.’ Only those crazy enough to have unbreakable stubbornness and Will awaken and gain abilities beyond those of a normal human.”

“To be honest, I don’t know much about the Awakened,” Matt admitted. “I only realized I was stronger than before when I awakened, after the Baron had already left.”

“Yeah, I heard about that from the survivors. They said a squad of Awakened and a Baron showed up. You probably tried to fight with everything you had.”

“I wouldn’t call it a fight,” Matt said bitterly, gritting his teeth. “He simply raised his left foot, kicked me in the stomach, and the next thing I knew, three hours had already passed…”

“Listen, kid. Surviving an ‘Illuminated’ is already considered an incomprehensible achievement. Even I don’t stand a chance against one,” Matskim said seriously.

“I don’t want to talk about that right now. I swear I’ll kill that son of a bitch, but I recognize that for now, I’m just an ant. That’s why I didn’t leave with the survivors. I wanted to get stronger, and I thought staying here to train was a good idea,” Matt explained, pointing at the animal hide.

“You’re doing the right thing by forgetting about it for now. Although revenge is a perfect fuel for climbing the ranks, right now it only makes you reckless, just like you were two months ago. But I’m not one to judge you.”

“Even though I know it was reckless, I’m not ashamed of it, and I don’t regret it. Even if I could go back in time, I would do exactly the same thing.”

Matskim let out a long sigh, looking at the boy with a mixture of pity and respect.

“You’ll probably become a really strong person if you don’t die young. I’ve never met a kid more stubborn than you… You remind me of my son.”

Matt watched the man, who seemed a little melancholic as he took a drink from his flask. He remained silent for about forty seconds before breaking the ice.

“By the way, sir, who are you? You told me you were a soldier, but I find it suspicious that you came looking for me. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t distrust you.”

“You’re right to be suspicious. Listen, kid: you should never trust a stranger too quickly. Surely your parents told you that.”

(My uncles did,) Matt thought to himself. (My parents died when I was thirteen, and they never cared about me. They left me with my uncles for as long as I can remember.)

Matskim continued speaking, unaware that the boy had become lost in his thoughts.

“My name is Matskim. That’s all I’ll tell you, because I don’t give my last name to just anyone. I’m a former Air Force lieutenant, although I retired years ago, and I’m a ‘Master.’ I awakened two months after the fall of the United States. That’s enough, right? Or do you also want me to write you an autobiography?” he joked, trying to lighten the tension.

“So you were a Master… No wonder my skin prickled when I saw you and I started thinking about how to kill you if you attacked me.”

Matskim was speechless for a few seconds, staring at the boy with his eyes wide open before breaking into an incredulous smile.

“…It’s the first time someone has thought about killing me the moment they saw me for the first time,” he joked again, shaking his head. “Well, I’ve introduced myself. Now it’s your turn, little psychopath.”

Matt was left speechless. It surprised him quite a bit that the man called him a psychopath, although, thinking about it, maybe he had said something out of place.

“My name is Matthew, but people call me Matt. I won’t tell you my last name either, although that’s because I never really cared about it…”